Nice Guys Finish Second
by robotiancornattack
Summary: After being turned down by Mari, Joven has to find a way to cope while still being professional. As it turns out, Anthony also seems to be having relationship problems. Lasercorn gets the bright idea to push them together. Will it work or just backfire completely? Pairings: Jovanthony, Iancorn, & Marhinki. SEQUEL to The Fortune Cookie Told Me To!
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Notes: Welllll hello there. True story, I got Chinese food recently and got the same damn fortune I gave Lasercorn at the beginning of The Fortune Cookie Told Me To. So I took that to mean only one thing - SEQUEL TIME! All these Jovanthony hints in the recent Game Bangs and elsewhere have been punching me right in the feels lately, and I got to thinking - heeeey, that would make a pretty story to tell in the Fortune Cookie universe. So here we are! Tbh, I'm not very good at working on two stories at once. I'm not sure how often this will be updated because I'm using it more as a way to get myself out of my writer's block for Perfectly Imperfect, but I'll do my best to not let both of the stories stew for too long. Either way, hope you enjoy! And also, to stay true to my n00b days of writing Fortune Cookie, I'm going to mostly address the people by their aliases - so Joven, Lasercorn, and Sohinki rather than Joshua, David, and Matt. Thanks for reading!_

* * *

Scrolling through his e-mail and twitter account had become something Joven dreaded. Ever since he lost his bet with Lasercorn and had to make his public love confession to Mari on that episode of 'Why We're Single,' any place people could reach him was flooded with messages questioning the outcome, wanting pictures, asking when the wedding was, so on and so forth. Each message a painful reminder that she had turned him down, each comment a knife in the gut to emphasize that she said she was with someone else.

Joven skimmed his messages idly, looking past the crap to see if there was anything actually useful in his inbox. He was happy for Mari, he honestly was. She seemed to have found a great guy, even if none of them had actually met him yet. But she always seemed to be in a good mood, and whenever she talked about her mysterious boyfriend, a smile would light up her face that both gutted Joven and elated him. Things hadn't changed on the surface between him and Mari. They were still friends. They still joked. He even still played pranks on her from time to time, but even in spite of his desperate attempt to keep things the same, they weren't.

And that didn't just go for things with Mari. Everything had changed as soon as Lasercorn and Ian started openly dating. They didn't see much of Lasercorn anymore. Before Iancorn became a thing, Lasercorn was always at the studio - either playing games in the background or just hanging out in general. Now they would only see him when he was scheduled to film something, and even then, there was a strange sort of tension between him and Sohinki. Joven had no idea what that was about, but he wished things could just go back to the way they were. It was as though every familiarity he had was crumbling around him and all he could do was sit back and watch.

"Are you still moping around over there?" Sohinki turned in his chair to address Joven, jarring him out of his thoughts.

"What? Why would I be moping?" Joven furrowed his brows. "I was just checking my e-mail. Nothing interesting."

"Huh. I thought maybe Lasercorn would've sent you something."

"Why would he do that? He could just text me," Joven spared one final glance at his screen before preparing to close it - only to have something catch his eye. It was a message from the Smosh account. His mouse hovered over it just to make sure it wasn't a figment of his imagination.

"You sure he could spare the time between making out with Ian to shoot you a text?" Sohinki grunted bitterly.

"Do you have a thing for him or something? Because that sounds an _awful _lot like jealousy."

"What? No way!"

"A little defensive there, Sohinki," Joven smirked. "Don't tell me you're gonna be the next one embarrassing themselves on 'Why We're Single'..."

Sohinki looked as though he was about to say something before he got red faced and turned back to his computer screen, "You're an idiot."

"So it's been said. Multiple times, in fact. I even tend to agree." He remarked in self-deprecating humor before sobering. "Seriously, though. What happened between the two of you? Everything's been weird since he started dating Ian. I wouldn't think that'd be enough to change him..."

"Yeah, well, you never know what's gonna happen until it happens. He's the one with an issue. Not me," Sohinki shrugged it off dismissively and quickly changed the topic. "Anyway, you should stop sulking around and check out this game. I'm thinking we should play it in an episode of 'Backseat Gaming.'"

"For the last time, I'm not sulking," Joven grumbled.

"Sure looks like sulking. Sure _sounds_ like sulking."

Joven took a sheet of paper, crumpling it up and tossing it at Sohinki's head - only to miss wildly. "Shut it."

"Not until you drag your chair over here and check this game out. You have to move anyway to pick up the paper you threw."

He rolled his eyes, "Hang on. I wanna read something first..."

"You know if you keep doing this to yourself, you're never gonna get over her," Sohinki didn't pry his attention away from his monitor for a second, blasting his way through his enemies. "It's for the best if you just step away from the fan questions and put your focus into other things. I might give you a hard time, but I do wanna see you happy, Joven."

Joven furrowed his brows, "This has nothing to do with Mari, but thanks for your concern. It's from Anthony, actually. Something about a convention over in Vegas that Smosh is supposed to do a panel at, yaddayaddayadda, Ian can't make it - so he thought one of us could go with him to represent Smosh Games. Huh."

"Oh, cool. I could go for a night out in Vegas."

"Hey, hold on. He sent the e-mail to ME. Why should _you _be the one who goes?"

"Uh...because I'm the best, _obviously_," Sohinki fixed his collar. He grinned when Joven finally got up and joined him. "But actually, you know what? You're right. You should be the one who goes. You've had a crappy few weeks. You deserve it."

"You act like I'm wallowing in despair," he settled beside his friend. "I'm fine. I'd be even more fine if you stop bringing up how miserable I'm supposed to be. Now c'mon. Don't you have a game to show me?"

Sohinki regarded Joven for a moment, looking as though he was about to say something again - but he clamped his mouth shut and nodded. Joven arched a brow, wondering why Sohinki kept clamming up. First on the subject of Lasercorn, now on the subject of, well, he didn't even know. He shrugged it off, though. Joven had enough changes lately, he couldn't deal with losing Sohinki, too. So he shut up and focused on the game, thinking to himself that maybe it would be a good idea to seek out his own change in life. He wasn't sure when, and he wasn't sure what - but maybe a change of pace would get him out of the perpetual rut he was trapped in. It was worth a try.

And that try started with accompanying Anthony to Vegas.

* * *

Lasercorn sat on the sidelines, watching Anthony and Ian film a scene for their latest Smosh video. He held an unopened bottle of water in his hands, and his only instruction was to toss it to Ian when they got to the cue. As much as he adored spending time with Ian and Anthony, the whole thing was boring. Lasercorn wasn't the type of guy who could sit patiently without having something to occupy himself - moreover, some kind of gaming controls beneath his fingertips. But what could he do? To go hang out with Joven and Sohinki meant actually facing Sohinki...and fuck that. Fuck Sohinki. It was totally not cool for him to let Joven go ahead with the bet knowing full well he never stood a chance with Mari because Sohinki had secretly got there first.

It was difficult to face both of them having this knowledge - so Lasercorn extricated himself and occupied his time being the waterboy for Ian, or whatever other menial thing they needed. He supposed it was nice to be helpful to them, but they weren't trusting him with any of the bigger tasks, and he felt more that they were simply humoring him because he was their friend (or in Ian's case..._boy_friend.)

Still as soon as Ian said his line, Lasercorn tossed the bottle in his direction and the filming went on. At least he wasn't Joven. He was sure it would have taken several takes and Ian being pelted a couple of times before they got it right. But for as many faults and failings Joven had, Lasercorn really did want to see him happy. He just wasn't sure what he could possibly do to make that happiness a reality. All he held in his hands was the key to making Joven even more miserable, and the keys to his car because he was pretty sure Ian and Anthony were going to be finishing soon.

Lasercorn's assumption was right as only a few minutes later, the crew called it a wrap and the group dispersed. Ian approached him, and Lasercorn smiled, tilting his head up to meet the kiss he was greeted with. Ian sank onto the seat next to him, planting his hand on his knee and giving it a pat, "You know I appreciate you coming out here and helping us..."

"There's a but coming. I can sense the but. What's the but?"

"_But_ you look so bored. I don't want you to feel obligated to be here just because we're dating. I mean, you can and totally should spend time with the guys back at Smosh Games HQ. You seemed happier there."

"Things have changed, Ian. Either place I go, I'm not happy," he paused, realizing what he just said. "I mean, not that I'm not happy here. I love spending time with you and throwing water bottles to you - and OKAY. Yeah, I'm bored out of my mind. But I just can't find it in me to face the mess back at the office."

Ian uncapped his water, draining a bit, "You mean with Mari and Joven?"

Lasercorn looked at him. He hadn't told Ian he walked in on Sohinki and Mari kissing if only because he knew Ian would tell Anthony and then it would be even worse if everyone knew EXCEPT Joven. But he was tempted to say it now - to blurt everything out and get some advice because he had been bottling it inside for so long. In the end, though, he held his silence. "Yeah...that."

"You don't have to feel responsible for that, Lasercorn. Joven's a big boy. He could've turned the bet down if he wanted. If anything, you being there would probably be a big help in returning things to normal. I mean, what? Not only did he lose Mari, but he also lost you being there?"

Lasercorn frowned, "Damnit, Ian. Why do you have to be right all the time?"

"I don't know. One of my many talents - emphasis on the _many_," Ian wiggled his eyebrows and sensually licked his lips causing Lasercorn to roll his eyes with a smile and push him away.

"Asshole." He stared up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I just wish there was something I could do. Maybe I could find someone for him to go out on a date with - or just something to get his mind off of things. Even if nothing comes of it, it'd be a nice distraction to get him on the right path to normalcy."

Just then, Anthony's voice rang clear over all the other chatter. He was talking to one of the crew members with a beer in hand, and although he had makeup on to hide most of his fatigue and stress from the camera - there was something exhausted and weary about his eyes, "I just don't know how she could look me in the eye and say she wants to see other people. I proposed to her. We were planning our wedding together. How could she just uproot her life when she'd agreed to spend the rest of it with me?"

Lasercorn stared at Anthony as an idea formulated its way into his mind.. He turned to Ian, and before he could even say anything, Ian must have read his thoughts because he shook his head, "No."

"C'mon. Don't you think they get along great? It'd be a good distraction for the both of them - a rebound to pick themselves back up and start over again."

"Does Joven even _like _guys that way?"

"He could?" Lasercorn answered uncertainly, scratching behind his ear. The truth was he had no idea. "It's worth a try! What's the worst that could happen? They just hang out as friends? They become closer as buddies? C'mon, Ian. Help me smoosh them together, pleeeease?" He rested his chin on Ian's shoulder and gave him puppy eyes until he gave in. "Pretty pleeeease? Pretty please with a cherry on top? Pretty please with YOU on top?"

"Alright, _alright_. Fine. You win."

He reached out and wrapped his arms around Ian's shoulders, "You're the best!" Lasercorn drew back and clapped his hands, rubbing them together deviously, "Alright. Let Operation Jovanthony commence."

To be honest, he didn't really expect anything to come of it. But if Lasercorn could succeed in getting two guys who were having a rough time to hang out and feel better about themselves, then he would consider it a win. If nothing else, it was worth a shot.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Notes: Yaaay it's an update! And holy crap, guys! The fact that so many of you read this and left comments meant the WORLD to me. I just...dokidoki, I love you guys. Thank you! I'm going to confess something right here: I have the hugest crush on Melanie. But I ship Iancorn, soo this creates problems. I would just insert myself into stories so I can live happily ever after with her, but that would probably be weird :P. So I'm actually hoping to introduce Melanie into this story, not as any kind of catalyst to break Ian and David up, but as a character who is moving on...and maaaaybe just maybe dates Joven a few times before the Jovanthony comes in to play. idk, what do you guys think? Jovelanie - yay or nay? Anyway, thanks for reading and hope you like the chapter! Sorry for the sporadic as hell updates._

* * *

Joven found it strange to get a text message from Lasercorn inviting him out to dinner one night. It seemed so out of the blue and random. But then again, there was no way he could refuse. It had been far too long since he hung out with Lasercorn alone, and if anyone knew what he was going through, even a little bit, it was Lasercorn. After all, it took a lot of struggling for him to eventually land Ian.

So he got the address to the restaurant and was told to dress in something that didn't make him look like a hobo. What did that even mean? Joven stood in front of his closet for about twenty minutes, trying to figure out what his least hobo-like outfit was - and he settled for a loose, navy blue, button-down shirt and a pair of light blue jeans. As he went into the bathroom and did his best to spike up the overgrown jovenhawk, Joven knew deep down this wasn't just about hanging out with Lasercorn. The invitation seemed far too deliberate for that. Was it a set up? Were he and Ian fixing him up on a blind date?

Joven frowned at the prospect, but made sure to dowse himself in cologne. No matter who she was, she wouldn't compare to Mari - but that was no reason why he needed to smell like a hobo. He had already put so much effort into not looking like one!

He knew it was probably stupid to head out right on time to make it by Lasercorn's appointed time of seven. Lasercorn was never on time for anything, and that was the only thing he was consistent in. But Joven was the opposite and tended to be prompt, so even knowing he would be standing around waiting like an idiot, he couldn't help himself from getting into his car and leaving a few minutes early.

Traffic wasn't all that bad for a Friday night, and even the extra few minutes Joven thought he would spend stuck behind slow-moving vehicles didn't seem to happen. Before he knew it, he was at the restaurant even earlier than anticipated. He gave a quick glance around and just as he suspected, Lasercorn's car was no where to be seen. Frowning, Joven leaned back against his seat, pulling out his phone. He went through his address book and lingered on Mari's name.

There was a point in time when he would be checking his phone obsessively for messages from her, but now messages and calls between them were just sad reminders of what he never and could never have. Joven tried to force it out of his mind, though. Any time he gave it real thought, it depressed him. So he went to scroll past her name and accidentally hit call. He cursed, having a mental debate over whether he should hang up now or not. Unfortunately, he didn't decide in time and it was too late when she answered.

"Jovie! Hey! What's up?" Mari's voice was crushingly cheerful.

"Mari, hey. Not much. What about you?"

"Ditto. I was just watching some anime right now. You'd probably like this one. Lots of chicks and lots of boobs flying everywhere."

He laughed faintly, "Nice to know you still think I'm every bit as much of a creep as always."

"It's your trait, right?"

"Not a trait I want to be known for!"

"Anyway, what's up? Did you need something?"

Joshua frowned. Was it really that obvious he no longer called for the simple pleasure of hearing her voice? He hesitated before blurting out the first work-related question he could think of, even if he already knew the answer to it, "Oh, I was just wondering if you heard anything about the next GT Smosh. Like when we're filming it and stuff. I have things I want to do, and I didn't know what day to do them."

"Umm. Tuesday, I think? Hang on, let me check..." Joven heard her rustle around with something before she responded. "Yeah. Tuesday at around six-ish. Those were Lasercorn's words exactly. So I think it'll be more like seven."

"Of course, of course. I'm actually supposed to be meeting him for dinner right now. And naturally, it's a few minutes past the meeting time and he's no where to be found."

"Lasercorn will always be Lasercorn..." she commented in amusement.

"And we wouldn't want him any other way." Except maybe around a little bit more. But Joven held his tongue. "Anyway, I'll let you go. It was nice talking to you and stuff."

"You should call me more, Jovie. I really do miss talking to you."

The comment sent a sharp pang of sadness jolting through him, and he nodded - realizing she couldn't see him but unable to find his voice for a few seconds. "Y-yeah. I miss it, too."

"Sorry, that was insensitive of me to say, wasn't it? You take all the time you need to, as long as things eventually return to the way they once were..."

The second comment was even worse. Joven had tried his best to put up the front of everything being okay. It sucked to know it wasn't working. He made a noise that he wasn't even sure he knew what it meant before ending the call. That was probably about the worst thing he could have done - not saying goodbye. He was tempted to call her back just to end the conversation on a proper note, but that would probably make things even more awkward. So in the meantime, he shot Lasercorn a text and continued to wait.

After a couple of minutes he got a reply: sry traffic :(

Joven rolled his eyes, half tempted to tell him he should have left earlier to avoid it AND yell at him for texting while driving, but he caught something out of the corner of his eye that drew his attention. Sitting outside on the curb by himself, looking sharp-dressed as always, was Anthony. Joven was sure it was Anthony. He might have been a little on the blind side, but Anthony was pretty unmistakable. Since he seemed to be waiting for someone himself (probably Kalel), Joven thought it would be nice to kill the time together. It sure beat waiting around separately and arguing with Lasercorn through text messages.

He got out of his car, locking it up before wandering over in Anthony's direction. Anthony was so busy with his phone that he didn't notice Joven until he was standing before him, grinning, "Hey, Anthony. What're you doing here?"

Anthony looked up quickly, "Oh...I was just waiting for Ian. He said he wanted to meet me out here. Had something Smosh related to talk about - what're you doing here?"

"...Lasercorn wanted to meet up and hang out. I thought he was coming alone, though. What's Ian's status?"

He glanced at his phone again, "Last I heard...traffic."

Joven nodded, "So they're coming together..."

"Do they do anything apart? Seriously, I wonder if they help each other wipe their ass sometimes," Anthony rolled his eyes.

"It's the honeymoon phase. That's what I keep telling myself. Lasercorn'll be back to hanging around HQ in no time. I mean, you were probably the same way with Kalel at first, right?"

A shadow passed over Anthony's face, "Can we not talk about her, please?"

Joven was surprised, biting his lip and looking down, "Sorry."

There was a moment of silence before Anthony sighed, "No. I'm sorry. You wouldn't know. It's a sore subject because she kind of broke up with me a few days ago. I understand she wants to start school and do something amazing with her life. I get that she felt she was investing too much time into our relationship, but isn't that something you think about _before _you say yes to marrying someone?"

"Maybe. But isn't it better you found out now than after you two got married? And who knows. You might work things out still."

"You think so?" There was a hopeful note in Anthony's voice.

"If it's meant to be, it will be..." Joven offered a reassuring smile.

"Thanks..." there was a pause. "I'm sorry about what happened with you and Mari."

"Hey, it's just one of those embarrassing things that happens," Joven shrugged dismissively. "I'm fine. Mari's happy, and that's what matters. Any clue who her mystery boyfriend is? Is it someone we know?"

Anthony shook his head unknowingly, "Not that I know of. She's being weirdly secretive about it. Maybe he's ugly." He laughed at his own joke, but when he saw it only seemed to make Joven frown deeper and feel worse about himself, he cleared his throat. "Sorry. I'll just call Ian and see if they're gonna be here soon."

Joven nodded, drawing his knees to his chest. He listened to Anthony's one-sided conversation until it ended fairly quick. "What'd he say?"

"He said we should get a table and wait for them inside. That it might take a while because there was an accident."

"Of course," Joven rolled his eyes. "I always tell Lasercorn if he would just leave early, he could avoid stuff like that. Traffic was close to perfect for me." He got up, dusting his hands off on his pants before mockingly offering his arm to Anthony. "Shall we?"

Anthony pressed his fingers to his lips and girlishly batted his eyelashes, "Oh, Joven. Such a gentleman." He looped his arm around Joven's and they made their way to the restaurant's entrance.

When they got inside, they separated, going up to the front server and requesting a table for four. After about a fifteen minute wait, they were seated. Joven and Anthony sat across from each other in the booth, leaving an empty space toward the outside for Ian and Lasercorn whenever they arrived. Joven grabbed his menu, eyeing the list of foods before glancing up at Anthony.

"Should we order an appetizer while we wait or something?"

"Yeah, that'd be good. Wanna get something and split it? Or should we get something separate."

"That all depends. You're vegan, right?"

"...was vegan. And not even wholly vegan," Anthony furrowed his brows. "I mostly did it to support Kalel, so I don't really think there's much point to that anymore, right?"

Joven wanted to be sympathetic and say something nice, but as his stomach growled, he blurted out in relief, "Good, because I reeeeeally wanted the buffalo wings."

Anthony smiled and laughed, and it caught Joven's eye. For some reason, he never noticed how Anthony's smile lit up his whole face or the way his nose scrunched up and eyes crinkled when he laughed. He was drawn to it and couldn't stop staring at him, pretty sure he was wearing a dumb smile of his own. Joven only snapped out of it when their waitress came to the table and welcomed them.

"I'll be your server today. My name is Melanie-" her voice cut off abruptly. "Anthony? Joshua?" Dread filled her voice. "Ian's not here, is he?"

Anthony's eyes went wide and he exchanged a glance with Joven before clearing his throat, "Um...no. No, he's not. Psh, I don't know why they gave us all these extra menus, but he's not here. No. Um...so wow! It's been a while, Mel. What's up? Why're you here?"

She released a breath of relief, "Oh thank god. I totally wasn't ready to see him yet. Not like this. And I'm just trying to make ends meet. I have a lot of projects going on, but you know - California and all. Apartments are expensive. I needed a steady income to help tide me over until I can commission more of my art work."

"Well, you look good. Right, Joven?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. You do..." he stuttered out of his daze of checking her out. Joven had seen Melanie before, sure. But he never got such an up close and personal look at her long, slender legs.

A grin broke on her face, transforming her features into something radiant, "Aww. Thanks, you guys. Can I start you off with something to drink?"

"I don't know about Joven, but I want some wine..."

"Wine sounds good."

"How about a bottle of Pinot Noir and some water?" Anthony pointed it out on the menu.

Melanie jotted it down on a little notepad. "Sounds good. I'll bring it right out and take these extra menus while I'm at it. You wanna put in an appetizer, too? Or just wait until I come back to order the meals?"

Joven opened his mouth to order the chicken wings, only to be silenced by Anthony raising his hand. "No thanks. We'll just look over the menu in the meantime. Thanks, Mel."

She headed off and Joven arched a brow, "I thought we decided on wings."

"Dude, you can get the wings, but we have a more serious problem. Did you forget about Ian and Lasercorn coming here right now?"

"...yeah, kinda."

"Alright, think! I guess the only thing we can tell them is not to come, right?"

"But doesn't Ian have something important to talk to you about?"

"It can wait. It can't be as important as avoiding disaster. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like chowing down on someone else's spit tonight."

"...wellll if it's Melanie's, I don't see where it would be THAT bad..."

"_Dude!_" Anthony shook his head. "Just call Lasercorn and let him know what's up. I'll talk to Ian."

"Fiiiine," Joven speed-dialed Lasercorn's number, pressing the phone to his ear and waiting.

* * *

Lasercorn smirked when his phone rang, kicking his legs up on the coffee table at Ian's place and leaning against his boyfriend's chest. He grabbed the remote, muting the tv before picking up the phone, "Yo, Joven! Sorry it's taking so long. There's apparently a shitton of debris on the road they gotta clean up."

"No, it's fine. You guys probably shouldn't come tonight anyway..." his friend replied.

"What?" Lasercorn looked up at Ian and mock-pouted. "Oh no. But I want to!"

"Melanie's working here, dude. Not to mention she's our waitress, so having you guys here to rub your relationship in her face probably wouldn't be in anyone's best interest."

He sighed, long and lingering. "No, I suppose you're right. But I was really looking forward to it. We're definitely gonna have to reschedule!"

"Yeah..." there was a pause before Joven's voice became sincere. "I miss you, Lasercorn. Come back soon..."

Everything up until that point had been fun and games. But when Joven uttered those words, a lance of guilt ran through him. Lasercorn frowned, not sure how to respond. Should he really give a promise he couldn't keep? Or keep a promise he didn't want to give? After a few seconds, he mumbled. "...I will. I'll stop by the office tomorrow, alright?"

"Alright."

"Have fun with Anthony. Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't make it."

"I will."

"Bye," and Lasercorn hung up, staring at the phone.

Ian canted his head in curiosity, "Is everything okay?"

This drew him out of his thoughts, "Oh yeah. It's great. Everything is moving according to plan, and it's all going even better than expected. Maaaaybe we won't really have to intervene all that much at all." Lasercorn grinned. "C'mon. Tell me I'm awesome."

Ian bit his lip and then flipped their positions suddenly so he could hover on top of him, "You are the most awesome at pretty much anything you set your mind to." He lowered so his lips could graze Lasercorn's until the blaring of Ian's ringtone rose up between them. Ian dug his phone out of his pocket, allowing them both to see the call was from Anthony. He hit ignore and then tossed it onto the table, closing in to meet Lasercorn's lips for a passionate kiss.


End file.
